


With Vengeance

by Anonymous



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Blackmail, Dark Harley Keener, Dead Peter Parker, Discussion of Abortion, Divorce, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Harley Keener & Peter Parker are Siblings, Harley Keener is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pregnancy, This is a messed up fic, This is not the happy family fic you're looking for, dare i say, he's very angry and it comes with consequences for tony and pepper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26563954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “I don’t want another sibling,” Harley said clearly, “No matter what you say, this is a replacement and it’s fucked up.”“Harley, bud,” Tony swallowed, “No one could ever replace Peter. He was his own person, he was.. he was perfect. No one could be what he was.”“Peter is perfect,” Harley agreed, but his next words sent any hopes Tony had of acceptance of the baby crashing down, “but I still don’t want the baby here.”
Relationships: Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 30
Kudos: 100
Collections: Anonymous





	With Vengeance

Two months after Tony came home (without Peter, everything was done without Peter now) from space, Nebula supporting his weight and glaring at them warningly, Harley wasn’t any closer to accepting that Peter was gone. 

Well, sure. Rationally he knew it: Peter was dead. But he’d only come as far as thinking it, any attempts at saying the words out loud cut off by his own sobs. He’d taken to staying in Peter’s room, immersing himself in Peter’s scent, his sheets, his hoodies; even those stupid science pun shirts Harley used to make fun of.

None of it came close to the memory of Peter’s warm embrace. The memory was leagues below the real thing, but Harley knew he couldn’t have it anymore. 

Harley had snatched up every single picture he could find that featured Peter in it. He hung them all up around his own room and Peter’s, smiling grimly at the now tear-stained glass in the frames.

Neither Tony nor Pepper protested; on the contrary, both seemed eager to stop being surrounded by Peter’s face everywhere they went at home. Harley knew he wasn’t being fair, knew that everyone grieved differently. Whereas Harley was comforted by seeing his brother, the pictures only seemed to send Tony spiraling further. If Pepper ever grieved, Harley didn’t see it. She did it in the privacy of the bedroom she shared with Tony. 

Their lack of opposition only fueled Harley’s anger. He was aware that they were upset, too, but it seemed like an insult to Peter that they refused to see and even speak of him. Harley didn’t understand why. He loved his brother more than anyone in the world, and would gladly talk about him to anyone that happened to lend an ear. He wished he could’ve told Peter just how much he loved him. How much he appreciated the 3 am baking sessions and weekend lab binges. 

Peter had always been better at expressing his emotions. Harley ached to be the same way; maybe then, Peter would’ve at least died knowing he was loved. 

Harley felt cut off from his parents. He wanted to cry to them, hold onto them, hope that they’d make everything better the way they used to when he was younger. But that involved long discussions about Peter, and his parents weren’t ready for that. He supposed he would have to keep bottling everything in. 

Peter had always been the cuddly one, anyway. 

Peter had been a lot of things. 

Peter would probably have been dealing with this better than Harley was if the roles had been reversed. If Peter was here, at this very moment, he’d wallow and brood right alongside Harley. If he’d been doing it alone, he would’ve kept at it until someone intervened. If he’d been doing it with Harley… he would’ve signed them both up for therapy. Peter had always cared about Harley’s wellbeing more than his own. 

Harley needed to see a therapist. It was what Peter would’ve wanted him to do, and Harley would honor it. He had to speak to his parents about it, and knowing them, they would set it up immediately. 

Harley trudged out of Peter’s room reluctantly, leaving with a lingering glance behind him at the rumpled sheets on the bed. He found his parents sitting on the sofa in the living room, large smiles stretching their faces in a genuine way that Harley hadn’t seen since the Snap. 

“Harley!” Pepper fluttered forward and off of the couch, beckoning him closer. 

Harley sent them appraising looks and took a wary seat next to Tony, who was gingerly rubbing his hands with excitement twinkling in his eyes.

“We have some great news,” Tony cleared his throat, glancing at Pepper for support she easily gave before he continued, “It will take some adjusting for all of us, but hopefully, we’ll manage just fine.” 

“Just tell me,” Harley cut in, annoyed. He needed to talk to them about the therapist. Peter would’ve wanted him to, and with how slowly Tony and Pepper were delivering their news, his conversation might be moved to the next day. “What’s going on?” 

“I’m pregnant!” Pepper burst out. 

Harley stared at them with a slack jaw, before roughly shoving it closed as fury washed over him in waves. “Are you kidding me? You’re pregnant?” 

“It wasn’t on purpose, but we needed this, honestly. What with everything that’s happened in the last few months…” Pepper trailed off uncomfortably. 

Tony was watching him with a scrutinizing gaze. He knew his son better than Pepper did. Pepper had only been living with them for the past few years. He wasn’t blind to the tension lining his son’s shoulders. 

“You’re bringing another child into this family?” Harley scoffed.

Pepper furrowed her eyebrows, “You’ll get to be an older brother.”

“Newsflash, I was already an older brother to Peter, who is dead,” Harley snarled, “And neither of you seem to give two shits about it.” 

Tony stiffened, unwanted memories drifting into his mind, though they had never truly left. An orange planet, cold fear, broken whispers of, “Dad, please, I don’t want to go”. He shoved them all away again, and focused on his son. The only one he had left. 

“Harley, I love your brother so much more than you know,” Tony sighed, torn between being stern and letting himself succumb to the weariness Peter’s loss had brought, “I know you’re upset. I am, too.” 

Harley scoffed, eyeing the pair dubiously, “Are you? Seems to me you’ve got everything figured out. One kid dies, you have another one ready to replace him.” 

“The baby isn’t a replacement for Peter,” Pepper laid a hand on Harley’s shoulder, trying to comfort him, but he shook it off before she could do more than skim it with her fingertips. 

“I don’t want another sibling,” Harley said clearly, “No matter what you say, this is a replacement and it’s fucked up.”

“Harley, bud,” Tony swallowed, “No one could ever replace Peter. He was his own person, he was.. he was perfect. No one could be what he was.” 

“Peter is perfect,” Harley agreed, but his next words sent any hopes Tony had of acceptance of the baby crashing down, “but I still don’t want the baby here.” 

Tony and Pepper exchanged helpless looks. 

“In fact,” Harley learned against the back of the couch with crossed arms, “If you bring it here, I’ll mistreat it it’s entire life. I’ll be the worst brother ever. You ever ask me to babysit it? It’ll be sitting on its own for however long you’re gone. You ask me to feed it for you? I won’t. You ask me to change its diapers? I’ll leave it in the dirty ones and let it get a rash. You ask me to watch it at a park? I’ll let it get kidnapped.” 

Tony clenched his jaw, and beside him, Pepper’s eyes were welling up in tears. 

“You will do no such thing,” Tony said angrily, “And I never want to hear you say things like that again. You’ll do what you’re told, and if you don’t, you bet your ass you’ll be in trouble.” 

Harley ignored him. “Better yet? Get an abortion, Pepper.” 

Pepper gasped, clutching Tony’s arm tightly, who sputtered at the words with an expression Harley usually would’ve found funny. He knew Peter would’ve been filling up the penthouse with his loud laughter if he’d been there. 

“You have no right to tell me what to do with my body,” Pepper scolded, her blue eyes flashing icily. 

“Maybe not,” Harley shrugged, and turned his head to face his father, “but if you don’t abort it, I’ll leave. Simple as that.” 

“What do you mean, leave?” Tony asked incredulously. 

“I’ll live on the streets, or find someone else to live with until I’m of age. Unless you get an abortion.” Harley said simply. 

Tony’s first thought was to be angry; angry at the blatant blackmailing and disrespect, angry that Harley wasn’t even marginally as happy as Tony’d hoped he’d be. Despair drowned out the anger, and he felt his shoulders slump. Harley was his son. Currently, the only son and child he had left. He couldn’t lose him, too. 

He’d promised himself when Harley was born that he’d prioritize his kids before anyone and anything. That meant his kids also came before fetuses; Tony couldn’t tell himself he was protecting the baby by denying Harley, because it wasn’t a baby yet. Not even close. 

Tony hung his head. “I’m sorry, Pep.” 

“Tony, seriously?” Pepper hissed, piercing him with her unimpressed stare, “He’s your son, don’t let him control you.” 

Tony pursed his lips. “Exactly. He’s my son, which automatically makes him more important than anyone… and I’m sorry, but that includes you. I will always choose my son.” 

“Fine,” Pepper pressed on, “We can find another solution. I’ll move out, and you can visit the baby. Harley can stay here, and he’ll never have to see it.” 

“Hell no,” Harley frowned, “I’m not letting that thing steal my dad. He’s the only one I have left, and it’s like that the other way around, too. Neither of us need some sort of shitty Peter Stark replacement.” 

They all paused at the mention of the name, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop. 

“Don’t make decisions for you father.” Pepper said disapprovingly. 

Tony massaged his forehead tiredly, “I already made my stance on this clear. I’m sorry, Pepper.” 

“Then I want a divorce.” Pepper snapped, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the living room to start packing her clothes. 

Neither Stark bothered to follow after her. 

“Just like old times, huh, Dad?” Harley nudged his side playfully, “Just you, me, and Peter. The way it always should’ve been.”

Tony stared at the floor quietly, and turned to look at Harley for a bit, too. He was glad to finally see his son smiling and happy. He knew it didn’t matter in the long run that Pepper was gone; his love for his children far exceeded his love for her. He had his kid with him, and he had a feeling that he’d have his second boy, too, if they cracked down on the idea Tony had for undoing the Snap. 

His kids were all he needed. He’d get Peter, and their family would be complete. 

Tony smiled and said, “Yeah, bud. Just like old times.”


End file.
